World News for Students of English

29-09-2026 07:00

Former Yes musician Rick Wakeman performed a live piano concert for 150 rescued moon bears at the Animals Asia sanctuary in Vietnam’s Tam Dao National Park.

Wakeman played gentle, melodic original compositions on a grand piano set up near the enclosure perimeter to bring attention to the plight of Asiatic black bears in East Asia. The performance sought to highlight the remaining 125 bears still trapped in small cages on illegal bear bile farms, where about four animals die each month. In these facilities, bile is painfully extracted from the animals’ gallbladders for traditional medicine.

Wakeman, a long-time supporter of animal welfare who has sponsored rescue bears since 2016, expressed deep concern over the cruel conditions the animals endure. He urged the Vietnamese government to quickly release the remaining captive bears so they can experience open space and proper care at the sanctuary before it is too late.

Difficult words: plight (a dangerous, difficult, or very sad situation), bile (a bitter fluid produced by the liver that helps digest food), captive (kept in a space you cannot leave, without freedom).

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